LCD-MX4 vs LCD-X 2021: which needs more amplifier?

The Audeze LCD-MX4 is 20Ω at 105.0 dB/mW; the Audeze LCD-X 2021 is 20Ω at 103.0 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The LCD-X 2021 needs 2.0 dB more than the LCD-MX4 to reach the same loudness — 0.50 mW against 0.32 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationLCD-MX4LCD-X 2021
Impedance20 Ω20 Ω
Sensitivity105.0 dB/mW103.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)122.0 dB/V120.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.32 mW0.50 mW
Voltage for 100 dB80 mV0.10 V
Current for 100 dB4.0 mA5.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.50 Ω2.50 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

Where the two part company

Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.

2 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the LCD-X 2021 but cross it with the LCD-MX4 (FiiO BTR11, Rupert Neve RNHP).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The LCD-X 2021 is more demanding than 32% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the LCD-MX4 than 25%.

dB SPLLCD-MX4 powerLCD-MX4 voltageLCD-X 2021 powerLCD-X 2021 voltage
803.2 µW8 mV5.0 µW10 mV
850.01 mW14 mV0.02 mW18 mV
900.03 mW25 mV0.05 mW32 mV
950.10 mW45 mV0.16 mW56 mV
1000.32 mW80 mV0.50 mW0.10 V
1051.0 mW0.14 V1.6 mW0.18 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, LCD-MX4Headroom, LCD-X 2021Output impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2017.7 dB15.7 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2928.5 dB26.5 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5925.4 dB23.4 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 67 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both.

The cheapest of the 67 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 17.7 dB of headroom on the LCD-MX4 and 15.7 dB on the LCD-X 2021, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.50 Ω for both, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 13 dB and 15 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
LCD-MX410Hz - 50kHznot printednot printed
LCD-X 202110Hz - 50kHznot printednot printed

Audeze prints the same thing for both the LCD-MX4 and the LCD-X 2021: 10Hz - 50kHz.

Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, so the matching numbers say little.

Not a measurement; maker by maker.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Audeze LCD-MX4 and Audeze LCD-X 2021. Every figure on this page comes from what Audeze published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

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